Limbo
by xXBWFXx
Summary: -RtAS- This story is being rewrote and stuff. You can read the older chapters if you like buuut they're kinda crap.
1. StayUpTooLateAndI'mTooThin

**23/09/11: I was sick of how this story was. So I rewrote it. Again. So here's Limbo 2011 edition. ~o3o I have to admit, this fic isn't my favourite. Mostly out of worry about how CERTAIN people will react if they see it. Which is why I have a second account. XD Anyway so for motivation I have the Sailor Moon theme on repeat.**

**...FIGHTING EVIL BY MOONLIGHT, WINNING LOVE BY DAYLIGHT~**

**Oh, and sorry for squishing the chapter name. FF.N is retarded like that.**

**Also, just a quick note. If you've never heard of or watched Rayman: The Animated Series, you'd better not read this until you have. Seriously. Trying to pick the plotline up from the characters is not very helpful. You have been warned.**

**Oh, and I did nick that Basic thing from Star Wars. Whatever. This is set in a different world, the characters have never heard of England.**

I

_Was this honestly what he lived for? Roughly shoved into the ring and ending up on his hands and knees, the seventeen year old looked around him and squeaked. How many people were there here? Hundreds upon thousands. He shivered._

_"Well that was a dignified entrance." he mumbled._

_He got up. He had to. He knew what would happen if he messed this up. The scars on his back were a permanent reminder._

_The music started. He blindly stumbled through the act...which in all honesty was vaguely obscene. The fact he was wearing the usual, opaque (at the chest anyway) bodysuit made it all the more humiliating._

_And __**technically **__he wasn't a kid. He was seventeen, so he was an adult. Just. Not emotionally though. He seriously doubted that he was any older then nine emotionally. But still._

_His heart was pumping by the time he stopped, bowed to the audience, was escorted away by Razorbeard, Rigatoni's robot assistant. Among clapping, cheering. Shouts of "You rock kid!" "I love you!" and other things that he really didn't want to go into but involved him and babies. And some of the screamers weren't even female. Which, despite the gay rights supporter part of his brain, was...__**disturbing**__. to say the least._

_But did these people really love him or what he did? Would they honestly care about him if he wasn't "amazing" or "talented"..._

_But in the back of his mind, as he was dragged away from wolf whistles and screams and sexual threats, he knew he wasn't amazing. Or talented. He was just a seventeen year old boy, ditzy, naive, linguistically challenged...basically, he was a retard who could throw a ball in the air and catch it._

_That was all._

oOoOoOoOo

_"Is there anything I can get you?"_

_Those words sounded so sweet on paper, but he wasn't falling for it. The past...year? Anyway, it had been hell and he knew it wasn't going to stop now. The fact he was sitting in a cage at this moment proved that. He closed his eyes._

_"LacMac wants free." he whispered._

oOoOoOoOo

And that was when he woke up.

His eyes snapped open, and he squeaked louder than intended as he fell off the bed, taking his blankets with him.

Closing his eyes, LacMac groaned in pain. Dammit, he should've had Ray take the top bunk. He might have been three foot tall, but at least he could fly.

Speaking of Ray, he was still asleep somehow. He didn't have anything to worry about.

LacMac sat up dizzily, holding his head, and looked around the room. You couldn't tell in the near darkness, but it was painted in very nice but contrasting shades of red and blue. Photos hung on the walls, and considering that it was a living space shared by two teenage boys, the room was surprisingly tidy, excusing the odd sock or box or comic.

...Okay, technically Rayman was about four. But apparently that hardly counted when you'd been created by the mystical moonbeans of the seventy second solstice or whatever the hell it was. Besides, Rayman was a teenager in attitude, look and apparently hormones. Technical age didn't count, although apparently it was a turn off when it came to girls.

LacMac had little to no romantic experience with girls, or even boys, so he wouldn't know.

The numbers on the clock glowed, illuminating the room with green.

_**3:47**_

LacMac groaned again.

Standing up, albeit a bit wobbly, he made his way over to the kitchen and got a drink.

This had been going on for about a month now and he hated it. It had started off with nyctophobia, which then got worse. A lot worse. And then the nightmares started.

It was horrific, to say the least, not to mention rather embarrassing.

"Are you okay?"

After around ten minutes of silence, the whisper was enough to make LacMac squeak quietly in alarm.

He looked towards the source of the noise, and was able to make out a figure in the half-light. A figure wearing a pink nightdress and a matching dressing-gown.

Betina.

"Hi." he whispered.

"Hey." she went to sit down next to him, with her own glass of water. "You okay?"

He nodded.

"What are you doing up this early?"

"Well, you?"

"I just...woke up I guess." She looked down. "It still haunts you, doesn't it?"

He didn't want that conversation now.

"A little. I'll be okay."

"You should get some more sleep." she squeezed his arm. "And don't worry so much. You're starting to act like Cookie."

LacMac giggled, despite his childlike loyalty to the older man, and stood up. "I'll be going then."

Betina smiled. "I'll see you in the morning."

Making his way back to the room that was half his, LacMac mused over what Betina had said.

Worrying? That was Stage One. Stage Two was slowly and inexplicably losing his mind.

He couldn't be sure, but he had a horrible feeling he was at Stage Two.

**Better? Worse? Please tell me _**


	2. Do I Stress You Out?

**Thanks for all the reviews you guys! Here's chapter 2!**

**Chapter title btw comes from the song All I Really Want by Alanis Morrisette.  
**

II

He'd needed to clear his head, so they'd let him. Indeed, Cookie had freaked out, but that was irrelevant. Cookie was always freaking out about something or other. Betina had once said she was tempted to dye her hair bubblegum pink and see how'd he react. Luckily, LacMac and Rayman had managed to convince her not to.

LacMac shivered, and rubbed his arms. The fact that his bodysuit was quite thin did not help the fact it was a cold day.

Next time, He reasoned, Wear a cardigan. Even if cardigans made him look like an idiot. Especially since he'd get it backwards and inside out knowing him

How appropriate.

But then, he looked like an idiot anyway.

Hell, he was an idiot.

LacMac shook his head. Stop being so freaking depressing.

But then, he couldn't really help it...

"SHUT UP!"

He hadn't meant to say that out loud, but he had. Now everyone was looking at him.

Staring.

A few toddlers and rude people pointed.

_Great._ He held his head in his hands and ran.

Was he going insane? He didn't know. He just couldn't..

Soon he'd made it to a nearby park. He sank down on one of the seats, still shivering. A tear ran down his face.

_"Excuse me? I'M crazy? I think you're the crazy one, Mister."_

_LacMac cringed. Cookie didn't look all too happy._

_The accented doctor in front of him sighed. "Right, well. Sorry to burst your bubble..."_

_With that, he pressed a button._

_A trapdoor opened in the floor...under Cookie. Before anyone could say "So THAT'S what big red buttons do!" or anything shorter, Cookie fell through the trapdoor._

_"COOKIE!"_

_LacMac had tried to get him back. He'd tried. But by the time he'd reached the hole, Cookie was gone._

_"Thank you."_

_He'd said it quietly, but it sounded like he meant it._

_Betina rolled her eyes in mock frustration. "Sure...I hope you've learned something from all this."_

_"Yeah..." said Cookie slowly. "I've learned all that running is not good for my back, and my knees are killing me."_

_Betina, if she hadn't been driving, would've whirled around at that point. "WHAT?"_

_"Joking."_

_And with that, they'd burst into laughter._

LacMac gasped, and opened his eyes. Okay, now that was _weird_. He was certain he hadn't fallen asleep.

So he was going crazy.

People were still staring at him, pointing. Because he was famous?

Or because he was crazy?

**Waayyyyyy shorter then last time, but tell me what you think. Yes I know the flashback scene was retarded I can't remember how it goes.**

**Also chapter 3 will be up tomoz cus my dad wants my laptop off. XP**


	3. Dog Days Are Over

**Sudden inspiration is sudden. XD Anyway, this is the long awaited (And unfortunately rurbish) chapter 3. Mutitoon-san, I. Am. So. SORRY. It took too long. :[ Will you ever forgive mee~?**

**Chapter name is from...erm...Dog Days Are Over...obviously...anyway the song is by Florence And The Machine. I actually prefer Howl but that's a naff chapter name. XD**

Okay, so it hadn't been a very good day so far. But the teenager was willing to put that behind him as he entered the gates, making sure to be quick so Grub didn't see him.

Grub (who's first name was Archie, according to Rayman "And I thought my name was bad") was a detective who, after Rigatoni gave him a call and...changed things round a little, had been hired to find and imprison the young adults in the flat above him. However he didn't actually know about their close proximity to his own living quarters and, as Cookie put it, "Not being harsh or anything, but I think it's better that it stays that way".

Finally reaching the little black staircase, Lac-Mac's heartbeat decreased and the momentary panic in his chest disappeared. It was a panic he always had whenever he was in that vulnerable spot because, well, what would happen if Grub saw him? And kidnapped him? And imprison him...away from his friends...his..._family..._

Lac-Mac didn't want to think about that.

Fishing around in his pocket, Lac-Mac gave an internal groan as he realised he'd forgotten to take a key. He'd have to knock...and wait here...

And pray Grub didn't decide to go out.

The panic started again.

Well there was no point waiting. He was about to knock when Cookie flung the door open.

"I saw you come in."

Lac-Mac mumbled something under his breath and followed Cookie into the living room, perching himself on one of the chairs. The flat, they'd found, was perfectly furnished, clothes and all. As Cookie put it, "It was probably some family doing a runner." Lac-Mac just went along with him, although considering they even had food in the fridge, he couldn't help being slightly suspicious.

Maybe...Maybe they'd been murdered. He didn't want to think about that either.

"Are you okay?"

Lac-Mac was jogged out of his thoughts by Cookie.

"'m fine."

"No, you're not, what happened?"

"Seriously, I'm fine." Referring to himself in the third person wasn't a necessity for Lac-Mac but as his friends knew it was generally a sign he was distressed.

"Lac-Mac..."

"I'm. _Fine._ Get off my case already."

"...Okay. We'll talk about it after dinner." One thing Cookie Levagetto did _not _do, Lac-Mac thought slightly bitterly, was give up.

* * *

Dinner was, in a figurative sense, excruciatingly painful, mainly because of the lack of conversation. Lac-Mac stirred a carrot around his plate until it got bored of the abuse; Lac-Mac decided he was bored as well, got up, and scraped what was left (which unfortunately was really quite a lot) into the dustbin.

Hmm. That _was_ quite a lot. He'd have to be more careful in the future; he didn't want Cookie to think he was anorexic and go off the deep end about something else.

Speaking of Cookie, he definitely didn't give up. Lac-Mac was about to go to him bedroom later that evening when something grabbed the collar of his bodysuit and he was roughly yanked into Cookie's bedroom.

Lac-Mac squeaked and rubbed his neck.

"Did I hurt you? Sorry about that. I figured it was the only way I could get your attention."

"It's fine." Lac-Mac sat on the bed next to Cookie, who immediately put his arm around his younger friend.

"Seriously dude, what's up?"

Lac-Mac gave up. He rested his head against Cookie's shoulder and explained the events of earlier that day.

"I m-mean, it was fine while I was asleep..but...it happened..I wasn't even..." Tears started to form in Lac-Mac's eyes, and he struggled out of the grip of his friend and turned to look at him.

"W-What..Cookie...What's happening to me...?"

Cookie managed to catch his friend in a hug just as the teen collapsed against him and broke down.

It wasn't like Cookie hadn't seen Lac-Mac cry before, far from it. By the end of their imprisonment, it had become an every-other-nightly occurrence. Rigatoni evidently knew how to push people's boundaries.

No, it wasn't that. It was that Cookie wasn't very good at comforting him.

_That's_ why he was nervous.

"H-Hey, come on, it's okay..." Eventually Lac-Mac stopped, and pulled away from him, looking a bit dishevelled.

"S-Sorry about that, it's..."

Cookie cut him off.

"It's fine. At least I know what's wrong now."

If one could hiccup miserably, Lac-Mac certainly achieved that.

"But...But what _is_ it?"

"...I don't know. But it'll go soon, don't worry."

Another "miserable" hiccup.

"You promise?"

"Well, I can't promise anything, but...but you'll be fine. Just make a note of when it happens and maybe we can work it out from there."

It wasn't very helpful advice, but Lac-Mac went to bed that night feeling a little better.

**-faints- That took too long. Again, Mutitioon, I am sorry.**


	4. It's Not All Me, Not All My Fault

_**Lol more sudden inspiration. 8D Anyway, erm yeah chapter name from Not All Me by Alanis Morrisette. XD As you can see she has a bit of an influence on my music taste. ¬¬ Out of seven albums I have 2. Well if you count Flavours Of Entanglement disc two as a separate album then uh out of eight I have three~ :D Oh and yes I did rip off the circus poster from Mallorie Towers book 3 ._. Sorry guysies.**_

_**Anyway, eh, yeahhh~ Mutitoon-san, other reviewer who's name I forget (Maple? Mabel?), I hope you enjoy this chapter...as much as my non-existent writing skills can allow xD**_

_**And before your tongues fall out guys, Ciarian = She-AH-ree-an. :3 Say it faster than that though~**_

_**Also I've sort of given up on LacMac's speech impediment. ;_; I just cannot write it for the life of me.**_

_**Speaking of LacMac, I appear to have removed the hyphen in his name. Ah well. xD Makes it easier to type~**_

_**Anyway, more emo-fic on it's way right about...**_

_…_

_**...Now.**_

_**

* * *

**_

If you asked LacMac, he'd tell you...well, once he'd recovered from the shock of being asked his opinion on anything by anyone, he'd tell you that of all his seventeen years, this had to be the best period of his life so far. It was merely the dream of most seventeen year olds to be living in a flat with your best friends, no adult influences and a pretty girl, which would also be something he'd explain to you; he's just lucky, okay?

...Well, technically, it wasn't totally without adult influence, as they had Cookie, who was an adult, but (as he would also explain) he fell into the "best friend" category, if push came to shove he had no influence over what they said/did, and like he said, he was a best friend so he didn't really count. By this point you'd probably tell him to shove off, but if you weren't bored yet (and he would ask you if you were, being self conscious like that) he would go on.

He would tell you that despite the obvious unpleasantness, he didn't regret signing up for the circus; after all, if he hadn't, he'd still be at that rotten orphanage and he wouldn't have met the only people who didn't think he was (and indeed treat him like) a retard.

_It had started in the summer, and the then sixteen year old was walking down the street feeling...well, thoroughly depressed. He had recently (well about six months ago) taken a job at a shoe shop, which involved wearing a "gay-looking" apron and calling everyone sir. Not surprisingly, it hadn't been really that pleasant, but he'd lived with it. Besides, the guy who'd ran the thing, who's name was Ciarian, had been really quite nice._

_That is, before he'd died._

_The funeral had not been a pleasant experience. LacMac had spent the whole thing in an itchy suit feeling like he didn't belong there; he had to explain at least ten times who he was. Not to mention the dirty looks the family had given him, like it was him that'd brought the heart attack on in the first place._

_But then, they probably thought it was._

_Eventually, it had been time to go home, everyone had packed up...except for LacMac, who'd just sat in the plastic chair and stared at the gravestone. He didn't need to go home, he thought, because I don't have a home any more._

_Well. He could go back to the orphanage, but that wasn't something he particularly wanted to do. Not that he had any choice, really._

_Just when he'd thought he could get away from that place._

_The staff were surprisingly understanding, considering. It was the other kids that gave him the dirty looks. It wasn't something he needed right then, after all, he was still grieving._

_That and he didn't have a clue what to do with his life now._

_He'd always known he wouldn't be working there forever, but he hadn't even thought about what he'd do afterwards. He was always too tired, or busy._

_Anyway, he'd been walking down the street, wondering what to do, when his eyes had caught some gaudy lettering on a poster._

**TALENT SPOTTING!**

**Can you sing? Dance? Play the piano? Juggle? If so, there's no time to waste! **

**Whether you're five or fifty, there's no limit to what you could do with the right skills! **

**Your wildest dreams could come true!**

_The poster went on and on in this way, giving out details, terms and conditions. You had to send a video in, and they'd judge you from there. By now LacMac was fully hooked, holding the poster in both hands and reading it intently. With a sudden smile appearing on his face, he let go of the poster and ran all the way back to the orphanage._

_He came home to absolute chaos. A group of teenage girls were fighting over a video camera, a group of boys had another and were making smutty jokes into it. A ten year old girl wearing something that was barely there was singing something, complete with cutesy pie twirls._

_Evidently, everyone had read the poster._

_LacMac walked into the middle of the room, and was met with a sudden silence. Many pairs of eyes scanned him._

_"What's the retard gonna do?" hissed one of the teen boys in what was obviously a stage whisper. LacMac said nothing, just grabbed the only video camera not taken, and turned on his heel and left the room again._

_The noise started up again._

_He practically ran towards his dormitory, closing and locking the door behind him, before throwing himself onto the rickety bunk bed. He positioned the camera and turned him on._

_An awkward silence._

_What am I supposed to say?_

_"Uh..." he cleared his throat, took a quick look at the door. Satisfied that nobody was going to catch him in the act, he turned back to the camera. "H-Hi." Good lord, this was embarrassing._

_"I..." Calm. DOWN. "I'm LacMac. I'm...I'm sixteen...and..."_

_…_

_"And I'm camera shy. Sorry about that."_

_It was getting easier now, as he relaxed a little and basically poured out his life story into the camera. It was only when the bell for dinner went that he snapped out of his little bubble._

_…_

_Holy crap. He'd been talking into this thing for twenty minutes._

_Saying his quick goodbyes, LacMac shut the camera off and slid off his bed, arriving at the table a few seconds later..._

_...And everyone was still staring at him._

_"How did the video go?" said an obnoxious sounding Glute._

_"Fine, I guess." He slid into his chair and refused to say anything else._

0O0O0O

_Submitting his video took a rather long time. LacMac decided to watch the other videos submitted, while his loaded._

_...Hmm. He knew most of these people, mostly from the orphanage..._

_...What the hell was Trevor doing on here? What was he auditioning for, boring people to death?_

_The first video he opened was that of a little blonde girl in a pink halter-neck dress. LacMac put her at about fifteen._

_"Hi~" she suddenly simpered, in the most obnoxious squeaky voice LacMac had ever heard. "I'm Bethanie~ And I like shooeesss, and maakee-uupp, and doing my haiir~ And this..." here she held up a fluffball that looked rather depressed. "This is Manolo. Isn't he kawaii?"_

_LacMac closed the video and loaded the next one._

_"Hi. I'm Kwiccah, and I want to be a fish farmer..."_

_LacMac closed that video as well._

_"Hi, I'm Damion, and I can sing and dance..."_

_"I'm Lea-Natrice, and I'm an actor..."_

_"I'm David and I'm flexible!"_

_"I'm Alex..."_

_"I'm Martha..."_

_Boring boring boring._

_"Hi, I'm Betina, and I guess I'm pretty average..."_

_LacMac blushed, closing that video as well. "Change your bloody shirt." he muttered to himself, feeling a nosebleed coming on._

0O0O0

_He'd made it._

_It was an agonizing three weeks, in which he'd been taken into rooms and made to sing, dance, steal things...well maybe not steal things. Eventually they'd wheedled it down to just three people. Four if you counted the Ludiv._

_There was LacMac, there was Betina, (thankfully wearing a shirt that didn't show quite as much cleavage) there was Flips (the Ludiv) and there was someone who LacMac would later know as Cookie Levagetto, but at this particular moment he was a mere stranger._

_Cookie looked pretty uncomfortable, and LacMac could see why. Considering he was stuck in a cramped waiting room wedged between two MP3ing teenagers._

_LacMac took out one of his earphones and prodded Cookie._

_"Hi."_

_"Hi." Cookie didn't even look up._

_"W-Well, you're sort of the only other guy here, so I figured..."_

_Now he looked up. "That we should get to know each other?"_

_Something flipped over in LacMac's stomach._

_"Th-that is...If you...want to..."_

_Now Cookie was smiling. "Hey, it's fine, don't look so nervous. Anyone's company is better then Little Miss Perfect." And here he gestured towards Betina._

_"I mean did you see her video? God, put a decent shirt on."_

_LacMac giggled. "At least you didn't get a nosebleed."_

_Cookie gave him a look which made him feel very uncomfortable._

_"It wasn't on purpose!"_

_"Surrrreee."_

_"Anyway," LacMac continued, "It coulda been worse. We coulda been stuck with Bethanie or whatever her name is."_

_"Oh God. Her. I couldn't stand her. **'Oh like hi I'm Bethanie and I'm an air-headed bimbo!'** I mean seriously?"_

_Now LacMac was hysterical. "S-Something like that..." he gasped, tears running down his face as he burst into another fit of laughter, falling off his chair in the process._

_Cookie grabbed him and pulled him back up. "Hey come on, calm down. it wasn't even that funny."_

_"It was to me." LacMac had started to calm down a little by now, though he was still giggling. "You just did her so perfectly."_

_"I'm sorry, I just cannot stand girls like that."_

_"It's okay, neither can I."_

_And from then they were friends._

_"So..." Cookie changed the subject. "What's your name?"_

_"What's yours?"_

_"Cookie. Cookie Levagetto."_

_"LacMac. I don't have a surname."_

_"...Oh."_

_"It's okay, I don't mind."_

_There was an awkward silence for a moment._

_Cookie got up, squeezing LacMac's hand. "We'd better go in now."_

O0O0O0O_  
_

_He could remember moving out._

_Dragging a few suitcases with him, he'd said another final goodbye to the orphanage, "And it is goodbye this time." and he'd ran. Towards the giant red and yellow airship that was now going to be his home._

_He already loved it._

_"LacMac! My boy!"_

_And he was clapped on the back by none other than Sir Rigatoni._

_LacMac smiled at him. "Hello."_

_Rigatoni slid his arm fully around the younger boy's shoulders and gave him a squeeze. "How you been?"_

_"Okay." A pause. LacMac directed his gaze to the floor. "I moved out of the orphanage today."_

_"Oh."_

_"It's okay, I'm not sad. The place was a hellhole."_

_Rigatoni sniggered. "I know exactly what you mean. I grew up in one of those too."_

_LacMac looked up at him. "Really?"_

_"Really really."_

_"...That's horrible."_

_"Eh, you probably had it worse."_

_And that concluded that conversation._

_LacMac didn't really know Rigatoni all that well. The first time he'd met him was the first time he'd really been in the circus tent. He'd wandered in, feeling slightly scared, and small, and had come face to face with the grinning ringmaster._

_"Hi." And here Rigatoni had extended his hand. LacMac took it, wondering vaguely if this was the right thing to do, and winced as it was completely crushed in a handshake._

_The introductions were short, and to the point, and Rigatoni started on LacMac's appearance._

_"Okay, first off"- and some clothes were thrust into his hands-"Get these on. You're not going to achieve anything with what you're wearing now."_

_LacMac mumbled something and darted off to get changed._

_Locking himself in the bathroom, LacMac unfolded the parcel that Rigatoni had given him, and squeaked. What he was holding up was a blue body suit, opaque at the sleeves and legs, so it was essentially a leotard. It was decorated in pink glittery spots, and seemed...made for him._

_He shed his jeans and football shirt, throwing them on the floor in his haste to try on this glittery thing he was expected to wear. He pulled it on, buttoning it up at the front, and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked...good. He looked great._

_LacMac smiled._

_When he came back Rigatoni was talking to Razorbeard, his assistant. LacMac couldn't tell what they were saying, as they were keeping their voices down quite a bit, but this didn't really bother him._

_LacMac cleared his throat._

_Rigatoni jumped backwards like he'd been electrocuted, spinning around and coming face to face with the sixteen year old. "LacMac! Wow, you look..." he paused. "You look good, kid. Now, the braces."_

_LacMac ran his tongue self consciously over the metal bars stuck to his teeth. "What about them?"_

_"They have to go. You can't perform with a lisp. Come on, take them out."_

_And he did._

_Rigatoni clapped. "Excellent. Now, what can you do? Talent wise."_

_"I'm pretty flexible. And I can juggle. And..."_

_Here he paused._

_"And what?"_

_"I'm...kind of...strong."_

_"Strong how?"_

_LacMac walked over to Rigatoni and effortlessly scooped him up._

_"Okay! Okay. I see what you mean. Put me down."_

_LacMac put him down with a giggle._

_Rigatoni rubbed his chin, and gazed at LacMac. "...We could do something with that._

_O0O0O_

_He remembered his first night._

_After the performance, after the cheering and clapping, LacMac felt someone take his wrist. He turned towards them and found himself staring at Rigatoni._

_LacMac smiled again. "Hi."_

_"You did well." A pat on the back. "Very well."_

_"Thanks." He shook himself free of Rigatoni's wrist and turned towards his bedroom._

_Rigatoni grabbed his wrist again. "You're not going anywhere."_

_"Wha-" LacMac didn't even have time to finish his sentence before his arms were pinned behind his back and a blindfold was tied around his head._

_The only thing he could think to do was struggle. "Let me go!"_

_"LacMac, honey..." Rigatoni's voice suddenly went all syrupy. "Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you..."_

_"Then why did you blindfold me?"_

_"Because I don't want you running away." By this time, Rigatoni's voice had gotten so syrupy LacMac felt like he was drowning in treacle. "I can't lose you."_

_And with that he was made to walk down a lot of winding corridors._

_Left, right, right again, left, left, through a door, down some stairs...LacMac tried his hardest to memorise the route, but got muddled halfway through and was forced to give up._

_A creaking noise soon came in to focus, which gradually got louder as they got nearer to it. Finally, LacMac was pushed up a step, there was a clicking sound, and the blindfold was pulled off._

_LacMac opened his eyes...and nearly broke down right there, falling backwards into a sitting position._

_He was sitting in a cage._

_He looked up at the grinning face of Rigatoni and whispered the only thing he could at that moment._

_"Why?"_

_"Like I said, LacMac..." The syrup suddenly had a hint of danger in it. "I can't lose you."_

_And with that, he'd spun the cage and walked away._

_LacMac was getting very dizzy by now. Closing his eyes didn't seem to help, but it was a whole lot better than looking at his fast-travelling surroundings. Just when he thought he could bear it no longer and was getting ready to throw up, the spinning stopped._

_LacMac didn't open his eyes, or say anything. He was sure he really was going to throw up if he did._

_The spinning started again._

_"Uhhhh..." He drew his knees up to his chest and buried his head in them. He could vaguely feel someone rubbing his back but it wasn't something he was particularly concerned about._

_The spinning gradually decreased and stopped completely._

_LacMac opened his eyes and looked up._

_The room was still moving, at least it seemed that way. He was about to fall backwards when someone put their arm around him, keeping him sat up._

_"It's okay. I've got you."_

_It was Cookie._

_"...What are you doing here?"_

_"I'd like to know that myself." He looked angry, and LacMac couldn't help shying away slightly._

_"That bastard. What right does he have to lock us up like this?" Okay, he was definitely angry. "I mean, dude, you're still a kid. He shouldn't be doing this to you."_

_And then this complete stranger hugged him._

_LacMac hugged back because he still didn't know what else to do._

* * *

_**Yay flashback chapter! 8D **_


	5. I Will Surely Break

**My God this must be the fastest update of like anything. xDD So after a very inspiring review from Mable, I decided to do a quick update. xD At this rate the fic wil probably be finished in like six months. D= I don't want to finish it just yet, I love doing this fic~**

**Okay first off I edited chapter 4. Just italicized most of it under Mutitioon's suggestion~ Second, a good part of this will be a flashback. Not all of it will be though, and chapter 6 will be relatively flashback-free. I hope.**

**Also, I may have a oneshot or something coming soon. If you don't like fluffy hurt comfort bromance I'd recommend skipping over it. D= Hey I'm a thirteen year old girl for Glover's sake, just be glad I'm not writing ZaDr smut or whatever.**

**...Wait what do you mean you don't know who Glover is? D= That's Crispin Glover to you, aka the most awesome voice actor in the world? Pha. You and your non-knowledge. Didn't even know who Crispin Glover is.**

**Chapter title from some The Fray song that I cannot remember the title of for the life of me. Who cares, they all sound the same anyway. xD**

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* * *

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_Cue the door being opened again. This time it was Betina being chaperoned in, and she wasn't too happy about it._

"_Let go of me! And take the blindfold off! I can't see and it's hurting my head! Oww! Mind my hair!"_

_On and on._

"_I love how she's so concerned about her hair." mumbled Cookie, pulling away from the hug. "It's not something I'd particularly be concerned about."_

"_She's a teenage girl." LacMac pointed out._

_"You have a point."_

_Betina was roughly shoved into the other cage, amid more complaining ("Ow! My hair! Mind my jeans! They're designer! Owww!"), and Rigatoni turned to the first cage._

"_Getting to know each other are we?" The syrup returned with a vengeance._

"_You leave him alone." Cookie shot back. "He's only a kid. How the hell could you do this? How could you live with this?"_

_Rigatoni snickered. "Someone's a little over-protective."_

_"He's a freaking kid! Someone needs to protect him because evidently it isn't going to be you."_

"_Oh, come on, he doesn't mind." Rigatoni turned to LacMac. "Do you honey?"_

_LacMac was just wondering what the right answer would be when Cookie cut over him._

_"Don't you dare try to manipulate him like that! Haven't you done enough?"_

_"I'm not manipulating anyone. He asked for this."_

_"Asked for it? He didn't ask to be locked up like some animal!"_

_LacMac curled up on the bottom of the cage and tried to blot out the shouting._

_Eventually a door was heard slamming. LacMac looked up and saw Rigatoni gone and Cookie with his head buried in his elbows._

_"...Are you okay?"_

_"I'm fine." He didn't sound it. "I'm just not very happy with all this. It's not like you were going to run away or anything, he didn't need to do..." He gestured around wildly. "...This. He didn't need to do...this."_

_LacMac looked down. "You're right. He didn't."_

_"I mean who does he think he is? That son of a-"_

_LacMac cut over him. "Camera."_

_"...What?"_

_"Camera." LacMac pointed to the ceiling._

_Cookie looked up and gave a sigh. "Oh for Polokus's sake..."_

_What they were looking at was an emerald green camera which was pointed right at them and making beeping noises._

_"...Right. Twenty four hour supervision. Nice."_

_LacMac looked panicked. "What if I need to have a bath?"_

_Cookie muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Wouldn't put it past him."_

_There was an awkward silence for a moment._

"_So..." LacMac tried to strike up a conversation. "What do we do now?"_

"_I dunno. Play I Spy maybe?"_

_LacMac shrugged and looked down._

O0O0O0O0O

_That night was one of the worst._

_It was about eleven O clock, maybe twelve, and LacMac (who by this time had been up a good sixteen hours) was completely exhausted and currently sitting against the bars of the cage with Cookie's arm around him talking about nothing._

_The door opened._

_LacMac looked up and saw Rigatoni._

_The welcome Cookie gave him wasn't exactly polite. "What do you want?"_

_The syrup returned yet again. "I was just coming to tell you that it's bedtime."_

Bedtime? What am I, three?_ LacMac was jogged out of his thoughts by the blindfold being put back on. "Come on honey, it's okay, I'll make sure you don't trip over anything..."_

_Suddenly LacMac was falling._

_"Oops." This time the syrup sounded mocking. "Never mind."_

_"You bastard!" yelled someone who sounded like Cookie._

_"Aw come on. He tripped over. That's not my fault."_

_"You pushed him!"_

"_Yeah yeah, whatever." LacMac was roughly dragged back into a standing position and led away._

_Okay, this time he would remember the route. Left right, right right left, right right left right..._

Oh what the hell.

_LacMac gave up again._

_This time, though, he was pushed on to something soft. When the blindfold was removed he found himself face down on a bed._

_LacMac found himself sort of dreading what would happen next._

_He managed to get himself into a sitting position, looking around the room. It was fairly bare, just a white washed room with a few beds in it, the beds had pyjamas on them, some tables, and a door. Two doors._

_"The other door leads to the bathroom." Rigatoni started to walk away, much to LacMac's relief. "You'll keep to those two rooms if you don't want to get hurt."_

_The last part had a definite dangerous twinge._

_LacMac sniffled and buried his face in his knees again._

_He didn't know how long it was. It could've been minutes, hours, days even. But eventually the door opened again and it was Cookie that was being manhandled. He was pushed onto the bed next to LacMac's, and the blindfold was pulled off._

_Cookie sat up. "Where did you take us now?"_

_"This is your bedroom. Don't leave, or I'll have to hurt you." And Rigatoni walked away again._

_LacMac still had his head in his knees, but he could still figure out what was going on. It was like the cage again. He was pretty sure Betina was going to be brought in in a moment._

_The door opened again._

_"Mind my hair?"_

_Yep, that was Betina._

_Again, flung down on the bed, blindfold removed, and she asked where she was. Rigatoni told her where the bathroom was, threatened to hurt her, left._

_LacMac wondered if he did this with everyone he employed._

_"Wait." Betina looked around. "I'll have to share a room with you guys?"_

_"Yep." Cookie still looked slightly irritated. "I think that's the least of your problems."_

_"But you're guys. Like, ew."_

_"Live with it princess."_

_LacMac tried out his argument-blocking technique again._

_Eventually Betina stormed to the bathroom to get changed. LacMac followed shortly after, thinking that if he was going to spend all night locked in this room, he might as well make it shorter by going to sleep. He tried it while Cookie was changing, but he found it hard. He was too shaken up._

_Eventually Betina fell asleep. LacMac could hear the changes in her breathing. By this time Cookie had come back. LacMac wasn't sure whether he was asleep or not._

_He hoped he wasn't._

_Cookie was desperately trying to get some sleep when he felt something climb onto his bed. A few seconds later someone wrapped their arms around his waist._

_"'m scared."_

_Cooke got into a more comfortable position and awkwardly rubbed the back of LacMac's head. "Don't worry, you're going to be okay."_

_LacMac looked up. "No I won't."_

_"Oh come on, don't be pessimistic. It'll get better soon, I promise."_

_LacMac sniffled and buried his head in Cookie's shoulder. He'd known this guy for about a day and he was already getting clingy with him._

_"He hates me." LacMac voiced his thoughts._

_"He hates everyone."_

_"Fair enough."_

_He still couldn't remember whether he got back into his own bed before he dozed off, but when he woke up the next morning he was sitting in his bed...and the bodysuit was hung over the bedknob at the bottom._

_He didn't know whether it was the same one that he was wearing yesterday._

_He didn't care anymore._

O0O0O0O

_This was the routine for the next year. Get up, have a shower, get dressed, get chaperoned to the cage, have a meal of bread and water at some point in the day, perform, go to bed, undress, sleep._

_It was like that movie, except one thing did change from day to day._

_The acts._

_At some points, he'd have to juggle. Sometimes he'd dance. Sometime he'd do some strength act with Betina. It varied._

_He never got to see what everyone else did. He'd always be taken back to his cage before he could. He knew Betina was an acrobat, and Flips was a tightrope artist. He never figured out what Cookie did. He was there when LacMac left and there when he came back._

_He woke up one day with Cookie sitting on the edge of his bed._

_"How long have you been there?"_

_"Not long." Cookie patted his knee with the same awkwardness he had a year ago. "Happy birthday."_

_And LacMac remembered._

_And smiled._

O0O0O0O0

"LacMac..."

"Hmmm?"

"Wake up."

The room gradually came back into focus, and LacMac realised he wasn't in his bedroom at the circus anymore. He was in his current room, which was painted in rather nice shades of red and blue (the walls alternated in colours) and had a bed that was actually comfortable. No en suite bathroom though.

Cookie was still sitting on his bed though. LacMac idly thought that he did that a lot.

LacMac sat up and looked at his clock. "It's seven thirty." he whispered. "Why are you waking me up now?"

"We have somewhere to go." Cookie threw a towel at him. "Get a shower."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

LacMac was sure he would.

O0O0O0O0O

By around eight o clock, LacMac was showered and dressed, and was in the kitchen nomming on a cereal bar, on account he didn't feel like eating anything else.

"You shouldn't sit on the counter. If you lose your balance you could either fall off and probably get a sprained ankle or you could fall backwards into the plate cupboard and you might cut your head."

LacMac didn't even look up. "Bite me."

"No thanks." A pause. "Are you ready?"

LacMac nodded. "But seriously, where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there."

"Why won't you tell me now?"

"Because you'll refuse to come with me."

Something flipped over in LacMac's stomach again.

O0O0O0O0O

Now he could see why Betina did the driving.

LacMac was all for road safety, but being in a car that braked every five seconds and always did ten miles under the speed limit was very very irritating.

"Are we there yet?"

"I swear if you say that one more time I'll pull your brain out of your ears and feed it to the goldfish."

"Fair enou-"

LacMac stopped. His eyes widened as the car park came into view.

The car pulled into the car park of The Headrest Medical Practice and Mental Hospital and found a space.

LacMac looked over at Cookie. "Another headache huh?" His heart was pounding in his chest. He had a feeling that the answer he was going to receive wouldn't be one he liked.

Cookie twisted around and put his hand on LacMac's shoulder, instinctively signalling Serious Talk Time.

"Look, those dreams you have..."

"They're not dreams, they're flashbacks. I had one this morning."

"...What about?"

"First day at the circus. When he locked us up and..."

LacMac broke off.

Cookie patted his shoulder. "There there."

"I'm not crying."

"Look, those dreams..." he paused. "Flashbacks. Well...that's not normal."

"I'm perfectly aware of that."

"And what I was going to do is try to get you diagnosed. See what's causing it. Then we can treat it and then you can be happy."

"...And you seriously wanted to come back here." LacMac was trying to find something, anything, that would help him avoid the issue at hand.

"Actually I'd rather be anywhere else." Cookie looked down. "This place gives me the creeps still. I haven't fully recovered yet." He looked back to LacMac again. "But seriously, I'm worried about you. I don't like seeing you like this. So I was going to see what's wrong, see if we can treat it, see what's going on with your mind..."

He shouldn't have used those words. The room started to sway.

"...You think I'm crazy?"

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**Awwww poor LacMac! D8 -hughugpat- Never mind dear~**

**Chapter 6 will be up either tomorrow (-faints-) or Monday. I can't update weekends, for...reasons. ¬¬ I'm busy.**

**Anyway, I don't like this chapter much but I hope you guys do~**


	6. Such An Unconventional Kid

**Okay, Evanescence on the headphones and Openoffice. And I end up with this crap. XD Also if you're confused about his bodysuit, I have a confession. Until recently, I thought that "opaque" meant "see through". -facepalm- Oh and the soda thing comes from a time when I was on very very powerful asthma medication and I had to take the pills with Coca Cola cus THEY WERE SO DISGUSTING.**

**If you want a personality basis for Ciarian, think of Two from _9_. He's practically a Rayman's World Two expy. xD**

**Chapter title comes from a song called Orchid by an artist you're prbably sick of hearing about. xD  
**

**Thanks again go to Mutitoon and Mable. Love the reviews guys, even if I'm writing about a part of the series that ISN'T CANON AND IS STUPID FFS~**

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Cookie looked...sort of shocked. "No, of course not. I was just trying to help you. I never said there was anything wrong with you. Anyway come on, if we're quick we can catch it before it gets busy." With that, Cookie took LacMac by the arm and practically dragged him into the building.

The waiting room was fairly empty, just a few old people and a whining baby. The trapdoor in the floor was still there, as was probable, but it gave him the chills all the same.

LacMac stared at it and idly wondered how long it would be until he was falling down it.

He was startled out of his thoughts by Cookie. "Look, go and sit down. I'll go and tell the receptionist we're here."

LacMac obeyed, locating the nearest seat to the colouring corner. The last time he'd been here, he'd gotten very bored very quickly, and besides, he liked crayons.

He couldn't wait any longer. He practically ran to the little red table and perched himself on the little yellow bench. Grabbing a pencil and one of the hundred sheets of paper, he started a sketch, resting his other arm in a bent position over the paper, as if to shield his drawing from others.

Which was effectively what he was doing.

"You coulda told me you were here."

The voice made LacMac jump and snatch the paper up, pressing it to his chest to hide it.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." Cookie put his hand on the younger man's shoulder as if to try and absorb his shock. "So what did you draw?"

..."Can I see?"

LacMac blushed harder, hugging the drawing to his chest."Oh, believe me, won't want to. It crap, seriously."

"Oh come on. Have a little faith in yourself."

LacMac sighed. "_Fine._" He reluctantly handed over the picture. (which for those interested was of Betina) and couldn't help feeling slightly embarrassed when Cookie turned the picture over and looked at it.

There was an awkward pause.

"...Why is she naked?"

LacMac felt his face explode. "Hehe, she's, uh, not. It just tight clothes."

A smile started to play on Cookie's face. "And why is she wearing tight clothes?"

"Uhhh..." He really didn't have an answer to that.

Cookie just laughed. "Don't look so embarrassed, it's not like I mind.". He handed the picture to his scarlet accomplice, resisting the urge to laugh at his expression. "It's good by the way."

LacMac looked down. "Thanks."

The next ten minutes were spent drawing, but this time Cookie was there peering over his shoulder in a way that was extremely annoying; LacMac was just too polite to say so.

"Now _she_is naked. Don't pretend she isn't."

"...Actually he a guy."

"...Oh."

They were interrupted by a thin reedy voice. "Cookie Levagetto?"

"Come on." Cookie grabbed LacMac's arm, the latter barely having time to grab his unfinished picture before he was dragged away.

OoOoOoOoOo

"How long has this been going on?"

"Well about a month or so."

LacMac wasn't listening. The doctor had given him a colouring book and some crayons in what was obviously a kind but patronising gesture, and although the teen had tried to ignore it, the urge had overcome him, and he was immersed in a little world where the main focus was colouring a smiley butterfly as carefully as possible.

"And what were the circumstances the first time it happened?"

"Well, I'm not sure, but he could tell you...LacMac?"

...

"LacMaaac~?"

...

"LACMAC!" And LacMac was snapped out of his butterfly-filled daydream by Cookie gently shaking his shoulder.

"Uh?"

The doctor repeated his question.

LacMac looked confused. "Circumstances?"

"Were you tired, depressed? When was the last time you ate?"

"LacMac felt scared."

"But apart from that?"

LacMac looked down. "Don't know...don't remember."

Eventually the questions were directed back to Cookie, and LacMac was free to plunge himself back into his butterfly-world, not even stirring when Cookie dragged him out of the room to wait for the doctors analysis.

He was finally snapped out of it (again) by Cookie tapping him on the shoulder. "Come on, we're done. We're going."  
LacMac obediently stood up and took his friends hand, and saying their thank you's and goodbyes, they left the building.

"So what did he say?" asked LacMac, noticing for the first time that Cookie was carrying a pale green piece of paper.

"Well, apparently you have PTSD, and he's prescribed you some pills." A pause. "How that works I don't know."

LacMac just smiled. "Still, at least give it try."

OoOoOoOoOo

The car ride back was fairly silent, apart from the radio. Considering that LacMac was busy drawing and Cookie was concentrating on not crashing the car and turning it into a big fiery heap, that wasn't really very surprising. Eventually the car pulled into a circle of shops including a cafe and chemist.

Cookie turned off the ignition and smiled at LacMac. "There's a café over there. Why don't you go find a table while I get your prescription? We can have some breakfast."

LacMac shifted around uncomfortably. "Eh, thanks, but LacMac already ate."

"Oh come on. You had a cereal bar."

"It's enough."

"No it isn't." Cookie prodded him. "You're still to skinny, you need to put on weight. Besides, you're still a kid. You're still growing."

LacMac looked startled. "Polokus, not any more I hope. LacMac's 6 foot whatever as it is."

A slight..._giggle_? "Look, you're not getting out of this one. Go. And. Find. A. Table."

LacMac saluted. "Yes sir." With that, he got out of the car and walked over to the cafe.

OoOoOoOoOo

He was sitting on one of the metallic chairs drumming his fingers on the metallic table when Cookie walked in.

LacMac didn't look up. "Hi."

"You're supposed to check before you greet someone. For all you know I could've been a paedophile ready to make off with you."

_Oh don't._ He'd had enough experience with paedophiles.

There was an awkward silence.

Cookie popped a bag on the table.

"These are your meds, apparently. I'm not sure I want you on all this medication but if it makes you feel better than I suppose you need it."

LacMac stared at them, suddenly not hungry. "What's in them?"

"I'm not sure myself. You're only supposed to take one a day though apparently so they must be potent."

This didn't exactly reassure him. LacMac couldn't help worrying.

The rest of the day was spent fairly normally; with the slight exception of that night, where after brushing his teeth (and lamenting over their blatant wrongness) and such like he usually did, he did something he didn't normally and raided the pill cupboard for the little white bottle. Upon finding it he examined it for a short while before shrugging, emptying a pill into his hand, and downing it with the water from the tooth mug.

…

Okay, next time he'd try soda. That was _disgusting_.

And with that thought in his head, he climbed into bed and almost immediately fell asleep.

OoOoOoOoOo

Waking up the next morning, he almost instantly knew something was wrong. He couldn't quite place what though.

He drowsily sat up, blinking for a few moments, before realising.

_He hadn't had a flashback._

There was a little cynical voice in his head saying that he had had one, he just couldn't remember, but the never failing optimist in his was convinced it was the pills, and with a happy noise he climbed out of bed.

And stopped.

The boy in the bedroom mirror looked almost exactly like he did...apart from the rash spreading over his shoulders.

He stared for a moment before shrugging. Rashes didn't bother him that much generally, and anyway they'd fade. With that, he walked over to the wardrobe and opened it up.

The previous occupant was almost certainly a goth. And probably a gay stripper as well. It normally took him about ten minutes to find decent clothing that didn't show too much of everything. Even the underpants were strange.

After much searching, he eventually found a pair of dark purple trousers and a rather strange black lycra top and grudgingly pulled them on.

...Well, it was better than the body suit. Remembering it made him shudder. Why anyone would force a child to wear that thing...

...Well the obvious answer was staring him in the face but he decided to ignore it for sanity's sake.

The music player was switched on, headphones in place, and he tuned himself out of the world and he wandered into the kitchen to make something to eat.

He was about to bite into a nectarine when he stopped.

Oh God.

It was happening again.

OoOoOoOoOo

"_LacMac!"_

_He wasn't listening. It wasn't entirely his fault, as he had his headphones in._

_Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, the door burst open and Ciarian stood there smiling._

_The sixteen year old sat up, obviously startled. "Sthorry." (the braces gave him a slight lisp when he wasn't concentrating on controlling it) "Didn't know you were here."_

"_That's okay my boy." The elder gave him a comforting pat on his shoulder. "Just coming to tell you that break was over." He paused. "More's the pity."_

_And with that, LacMac was pulled off the bed and guided downstairs._

_A girl of about six in a maroon silk coat and matching strapover shoes over milky white socks was sitting on one of the chairs, looking agitated._

"Finally. I've been waiting five whole minutes for you." she glowered. "I expect better service and more respect next time."

"Morning lassie." Ciarian was practically glowing, he was beaming so much, as he walked over. "And what can I do for you, huh?"

_The girl thrust her feet out, nearly kicking the unfortunate LacMac in the crotch._

"I want my shoes polished." she snapped. "And quickly."

"_Yes, madame." LacMac muttered as he fetch the polish and a cloth and proceeded on her shoes._

_Ciarian kept talking to her, playing with her hair (he pulled at her pigtails and made dinging noises), offering her a lollipop (she snatched it without saying thank you), complimenting her 'lovely' burgundy skirt and white blouse (her only reply was "I know") and just being generally friendly. The girl didn't return the favour, and sulked all throughout the procedure, only speaking to tell LacMac he was doing something wrong. Finally, a woman who was obviously her mother appeared, and escorted her away._

"_Goodbye!" LacMac had called, then as soon as he'd shut the door, he slid down with his back against it. "And good riddance."_

_Ciarian had cracked up. "May I agree with you my dear boy. Reminds me of a time_

OoOoOoOoOo

Right in the middle of the flashback he zoned back in, gasping. Somewhere along the line he'd squished the nectarine into a pulp, but that hardly mattered as he pulled himself back into a proper sitting position.

"Well." he murmured. "That was interesting."

OoOoOoOoOo

The rash almost doubled over the next few days.

Each night, he'd take the pills, and each morning he'd wake up and it had spread. Mostly he didn't noticed, being too hyped over the lack of flashbacks (sometimes he still dreamt them, and even had them during the day, but it wasn't as often), but when he woke up that day to them all over his chest he decided to talk about it.

He came to the first person he thought of.

Soon enough he found himself standing in Cookie's room, blushing, and not wearing as much as he would have liked.

"So." he questioned timidly. "Thoughts?"

"...The only thing I can think of is you must be allergic to something in the pills."

"Ah." He looked down, and then shrugged. "Ah well. It'll go."

"Maybe." Damn him and his pessimism.

"Besides, LacMac can live with it. It not irritating, it just don't look pretty."

"Doesn't look pretty."

"Whatever."

"Look, I'm sorry, but you need to improve your language a little mo-"

He cut off abruptly and stared at LacMac. "Are you okay?"

He was staring at the wall almost as if he could see past it. His mouth opened a little but no sound came out.

"...LacMac?"

Before he could question any further, the teen's knees gave way, eyelids fluttering, and he collapsed.

He was unconscious before his head hit the floor.

* * *

**And I shall leave that there because A. It's nearly ten O clock at night, and B I like cliffies.**


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